On Thursday, June 23, staff from MCHIP partner ICF-Macro--including Laban Tsuma, Jennifer Winestock Luna, Leo Ryan, and Kirsten Unfried--collaborated to host the first in a series of brownbag lunches in the Child Survival and Health Grants Program (CSHGP) Learning Exchange. The aim of the series is to inform MCHIP staff and the broader community interested in child survival about the CSHGP and data coming from current grantees.

Since 1985, the CSHGP has served as a vehicle for supporting grantees, including numerous private and voluntary organizations (PVOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), based in the US with a presence in developing countries around the world. As indicated on the map below, a number of countries have had multiple grants projects implemented in them; each project is typically between US$1 million and US$4 million.

 

Figure: CSHGP Project Map 1985-2010

CSHGP grantees implement a broad mix of interventions focused on improving child survival and health, and have a rigorous, standardized monitoring and evaluation system in place, collecting baseline, midline and endline data from nearly all grantees. By using a standard package of indicators as part of the Knowledge, Practice, and Coverage (KPC) surveys, data comparable across countries is available for grantees in the same cohort which started in the same year. The KPCs have been used since 1991 by grantees, and the methodology continues to be updated through today.

Data coming out of recent final evaluations has shown promising results, reinforcing the value of the CSHGP and its grantee programs. For example, projects implemented by Food for the Hungary/Mozambique, MTI/Liberia, PLAN/Cameroon, and CRWRC/Bangladesh have shown improvements across a varied mix of indicators, including maternal tetanus toxoid vaccination, handwashing, use of insecticide-treated nets, danger signs in pregnancy, underweight, exclusive breastfeeding, and others.

Over the next three years, additional programs are scheduled to conduct their final evaluations. Information coming out of these documents may be useful in informing not only future CSHGP and MCHIP programs, but also additional global partners working to improve child health and meet Millennium Development Goal 4.

If you’re interested in learning more about CSHGP and data coming out of the 13 most recent final evaluations, you can view the webcast of the lunch presentation below and check out the program’s website. You can also follow MCHIP on twitter and Facebook for more updates!

Amanda Makulec

MCHIP Program Analyst